


It's dangerous to go alone

by Silverdancer



Category: VIXX
Genre: Gamers and fancy parties, Happy Hongbin Day, M/M, Rich Boys AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 18:50:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16124579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverdancer/pseuds/Silverdancer
Summary: "How do I know you're not the one following me?""Of course I am not following you!""That's exactly what someone who is following me would say."(Or the rich boys au no one ever asked for)





	It's dangerous to go alone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [miss_dinosaur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_dinosaur/gifts).



> Happy birthday, Hongbin. You deserve the world. 
> 
> This fic could not have happened without word sprints, and there is no way I can stress how much is true, so thank you for that.

“Dammit!”

It’s the fifth game in a row and Jaehwan has not managed to get a single good ranking. It’s not his night, he guesses, as he takes his earphones out, and gets up from his table, stretching. Most of the tables in the room are free to use, and Jaehwan ponders changing computers, seeing if maybe the change it will help with anything. A tiny part of him hears Sanghyuk’s voice. “The computer doesn’t matter, hyung. When one is good, they are good everywhere.”

He hates it. 

Before leaving for the night he heads to the snack corner, because if nothing else, at least forbidden snacks will help him some. 

He’s waiting for his special ramen to be done when he notices that one of the tablesenarby is being used and that the guy playing seems to be playing the exact same game he was playing. Jaehwan knows that peeking is bad but it’s close to 2am, and there’s not much to do when you’re waiting for your food to be done, he thinks, so he peeks around the cubicle space trying to get a good visual of the game. 

They are _so good_ , Jaehwan thinks. It’s so unfair. Their hands move across the keyboard as if they were flying. The shots the character took are precise, and his movements sleek, being able to hide when he needs to, managing to sneak on some enemies. 

Jaehwan is a little in love.

***

Sadly, Jaehwan is also not very discreet.

He didn't mean to stay for long, but their game was so good that Jaehwan found himself forgetting that he was creeping on a stranger, and got a better angle to view the screen better. So of course when he celebrated a very beautiful kill, the stranger _noticed_.

He turned around on his seat, probably scared by the sudden movement, and that itself startled Jaehwan, causing him to fall to the floor from where he was crouching at the edge of the cubicle.

They stay at each other for more than it's probably socially acceptable, or so Jaehwan thinks, when the guy instead of shooing him away like the weirdo he must seem, laughs.

He gets up, and stretches his hand towards Jaehwan, trying to help Jaehwan up. He grabs it, not entirely sure what’s happening, and very much trying to find a nice hole to sit in but also trying to not let that show in his face. 

Luckily for him the timer on his food goes off and before the guy has time to say another word, Jaehwan mumbles an apology, pointing back to the food area, and flees.

***

Jaehwan power-walks his way to his ramen, and then to his computer cubicle, eyeing his back trying to see if the stranger, by any chance did follow him and when he doesn’t see him, he lets himself fall down on the computer chair, getting comfortable to enjoy his food.

The night is young and seeing this guy’s play has fueled his energy for the night. 

Ramen is gone in a blink, and Jaehwan is ready to kick some serious ass. The game loads to the usual server, and as the rest of players join the round Jaehwan starts to sing under his breath the last jingle he heard on the radio. He giggles to himself remembering the long looong storyline, even as the game starts. 

He runs to cover, taking stock of whatever ammunition he has. Someone’s coming, he can see from the sight the hiding place grants him. He’ll jump and surprise them and then, hah, he’ll shoot them dead. He can feel the thrill on his veins already, waiting until the intruder is slightly closer.

He has his weapon prepared and ready, about to press the button, and...

"Don't move yet."

... he gets the scare of his _life_.

The stranger from before is there, looking at the screen, not noticing, or minding, the scream he caused Jaehwan.

“What are you doing here?”

“Enjoying the show. Now pay attention or he’s going to get you,” Jaehwan turns around and sees the game is still on, his character still alive. He gets his hands back on the keyboard, and the guy enters the cubicle, crouches beside Jaehwan. “You were going in too soon, he could have still gotten you. Here,” he says, reaching out and changing Jaehwan’s weapon to a lower ranged one, “wait until he’s entering the building, and get him from behind. You’ll avoid making noise that way.” 

Jaehwan stares at him wide eyed, not really sure what exactly is going on, until the guy looks at him, nudging him to the keyboard. “Go, try it.” 

Like on a spell, Jaehwan turns and moves, attacking right when the guy tells him, and right as he told him, the enemy falls, and disappears from the screen. Jaehwan croons, and turns to the stranger, high fiving him quickly before turning around and running for cover again.

“That was _awesome_ , dude, thank you! Do you have any other tip for me?”

***

The guy, as it turns out, does have more tips.

“You always rush it, and your aim is not good enough,” he explains, a bag of chips in his hand, crammed in the small space with Jaehwan. Jaehwan clicks his tongue as the loading screen appears as his character dies, another time again. 

“Says the pro gamer,” Jaehwan says, without heat, as he leans over to steal a couple of chips from the bag.

He laughs, sheepishly, and avoids his eyes. “Not pro, just better than average.” It sounds wrong, to Jaehwan’s ears.

“Dude, I have learned more about this in this hour than I did in months of internet guides," Jaehwan says, vehemently, "if you're not pro it's because you don't want to."

"I guess you're right," he says, the tone not matching his words. Jaehwan is about to poke at that, but something on the clock catches his attention. The hands signal close to 4 am and that stops him in his tracks.

"Is it this hour already?" Jaehwan says, and he sounds _sad_ , "I should go already, but," Jaehwan doesn't realize until he hears himself, but he really, really wishes he didn't have to go. The other guy notices the hour too, eyes growing comically wide, and gets up without letting Jaehwan finish.

"Wow, it is really late," the guy says, taking his phone out to confirm that, really, it is that time, "I should go, too."

Jaehwan is busy closing the game and packing his stuff, and doesn't notice the guy leaves, only hearing the footsteps a little after.

"Hey!" Jaehwan calls after him, making him turn around for a moment, "This was fun!" The guy nods, and turns around again, making his way back to where, Jaehwan suspects, his things are still waiting for him. He should leave him go, really, but before he does he needs to know something else. "Excuse me!" he calls again, following him after rounding the corner, "I don't think I caught your name!"

The guy turns around and laughs.

"Hongbin!"

***

Jaehwan is surprised when, in one of his late night games, he finds Hongbin again on the same internet café. He is even more surprised when that keeps happening, over and over again, over the course of a couple of months.

"I'm going to start thinking you're following me," Jaehwan teases peeking around the entrance of Hongbin's cubicle, trying to see what game is Hongbin playing today. Hongbin snorts as he opens his drink, turning around to look at Jaehwan.

He takes his time with the drinks, and Jaehwan can see him thinking, and finding, a good comeback, "How do I know you're not the one following me?" 

"Of course I am not following you!"

"That's exactly what someone who is following me would say," he deadpans, and Jaehwan laughs, defeated.

“I guess you will have to trust me,” Jaehwan brings a chair from a nearby cubicle and squeezes it in beside Hongbin’s. Their thighs touch and Jaehwan pretends not to notice how it feels like he’s burning.

***

As he adjusts his tie so it doesn’t quite strangle him, Jaehwan wishes his life could always be like his nights.

He knows he’s lucky enough to be able to have them, even. He knows, too, that he has a life that many would kill for. But as he is faced with the prospect of spending a night entertaining a group of potential investors for his parents, part of him wishes he could be in regular clothes, in a bad lit room, worrying only about how many weapons he’s going to upgrade. 

“Jaehwannie,” his mother knocks, distracting him from his thoughts, “it’s time.”

“I’m coming, one moment,” he says, never raising his voice. Before leaving his room he checks that everything is in place, his clothes are hidden and the window is closed. It wouldn’t be good if they found out.

***

It’s been two hours of continued smiling and meaningless small talk and Jaehwan can barely feel his cheek muscles anymore. Is he really smiling if he can’t feel it? Does it count if Jaehwan has been laughing at appropriate times without even remembering what he’s laughing about?

He fights a sigh of relief when someone calls them over, being finally free, and before anyone notices him alone he goes to find a corner where he can just and observe comfortably for a while. And maybe regain the sense of his facial muscles, although that might be too much to ask. Not long after he turns around, and before he even gets far away from the danger zone, he hears a very familiar voice that very very much should not be here.

 _I must be imagining things_ , he thinks. 

And even then, he turns around. He can’t help it, he’s curious. He turns around and there, right by the door, stands Hongbin, in jeans and a formal jacket, and looking as much out of the water as Jaehwan feels.

 _Maybe_ , he thinks, _I’m just imagining it. There’s no way he is there._ Why would he be anyway. The people that go to the kind of parties Jaehwan’s family throws is not the kind of people that stays up playing online until 4 a.m. That’s how it works.

Right. 

He’s probably too tired. Imagining things. It’s probably just a guy that _looks like_ Hongbin.

He turns around then, satisfied, searching for his hiding place and definitely not thinking about Hongbin.

***

Jaehwan discovers two things that night.

First that his escape abilities are worse than what they were when he went to these parties as a teenager. As proven by the fact that he is now, again, stuck in conversation with another old rich guy that loves art and has way too much money on his hands and, if Jaehwan is not careful, his bored hands will try to get too close. He knows that that money is what his parents need, and he’s sure they don’t know how some of the people around here are, which is why he smiles politely and stands at a safe distance. Years of parties have taught him some good tricks.

(Or maybe he was never good. Maybe people let him, the child, the uninteresting, the boring, go easier before)

The second thing he discovers, if he can call it that, is that he should learn to trust his senses. Because as he is trying to find an excuse to run away from the second painfully uncomfortable conversation of the afternoon he sees the guy-that-looks-like-Hongbin look at him mid-sip and almost choke on it from the surprise.

For the first time in hours, Jaehwan feels like smiling for real.

***

“Are you _really_ sure you’re not following me?”

Jaehwan jumps, having been found when he thought he had finally found a good hiding place in the garden, not registering the words until he turns around and he sees Hongbin, fully suited, door already closed behind him.

“You got me,” he laughs, “I followed you right to my house, and now I have you right where I wanted you.” Hongbin looks surprised at that revelation, and looks around, back to the house, before looking at Jaehwan again.

“It was a master plan, I agree,” Hongbin says, and laughs at last, falling into step with Jaehwan. 

“I’m surprised I haven’t seen you before.”

“We moved, recently,” he says, words vague, evasive, as if that explains everything, and it does. Jaehwan understands enough. 

“Well then. My name is Lee Jaehwan,” interrupts, before making him uncomfortable, offering his hand to Hongbin, “nice to meet you.”

***

Knowing Hongbin as the stranger from the internet cafe was great. Having Hongbin as a full time friend is a whole new level of amazing.

They had each other’s numbers by the end of the night, and that was probably the smartest decision Jaehwan has ever made. Now, instead of meeting at the café at random times, they actually get together to go, both sneaking out and meeting on a nearby park before running off together.

Most of the time they go to the café. Others they just stay near the swings, and talk. 

“I don’t really have any friends,” Jaehwan confesses, “I grew up here, and I know people from school, but interests were too different, and I guess we never matched well.”

The night changes things, the park that during the day is so loud and public transforms into a big hiding place, quiet and private, perfect to share every fear.  
“That’s so weird. Because when I met you, I thought you’d be the kind of people with so many friends that that’s why you had to go play _at night_ ,” Hongbin says, making Jaehwan laugh. “I had seen you, before. You even seem friends with the clerk at the entrance.”

Jaehwan is mildly flattered, but brushes it off. “He’s just polite, I am probably more than a nuisance than anything.”

Silence settles between them after that, and as cliché as it sounds, Jaehwan is surprised for how not weird he is.

“I had friends, before we moved,” Hongbin says after a while, “there was this hyung that I had i my old school who really helped me out, and I hung out with him a lot. Even made friends with his friends.” 

“He seems cool,” Hongbin nods in agreement. “You should call him sometime.”

“I don’t know…” Hongbin starts.

Jaehwan is surprised how comfortable he is with silence that night, 

“I’m sure he’d like to know how you are.” Hongbin nods, and looks kind of sad and Jaehwan is discovering quickly how little he likes that. “And that we didn’t murder you here, of course,” Jaehwan jokes, and Hongbin pushes him playfully, the mood lightened up again.

“Besides… You do have friends now, don’t you?” 

As soon as the words leave his mouth, Jaehwan feels nervous because well, maybe he did not consider him his friend. The seconds it takes Hongbin to answer are suddenly longer than anything Jaehwan has ever known. He’s starting to think of excuses, and jokes to dissipate the tension, but turns out it’s not necessary.

Especially when Hongbin answers, softly, a small smile noticeable in his voice.

“I guess I do.”

***

They find a new café to hang out in. As fun as it is to squeeze together on the same cubicle, it makes it hard to play the two of them at the same time, and when they do, the cubicle walls are more of an annoyance than anything. Luckily for them they always end up playing in the dead hours of the night so there are not that many customers around, and if they are they are not the kind to care that much.

Hongbin picks their seats as Jaehwan goes to grab some snacks for the night. When he gets back, both computers are finishing booting up, Hongbin adjusting his chair to his height. 

“The food has arrived!” he announces to Hongbin’s back, and it’s then when he hears it. Jaehwan doesn’t think he knows, but while he’s searching for the little paddle he keeps making happy little noises.

He would coo, if he weren’t afraid of him never doing them again.

***

Hongbin is down.

They were doing great but Hongbin jumped too fast to shot a guy that was going to hit Jaehwan and made himself an easy aim and he’s down and Jaehwan is all on it’s own.

All the work, gone, in a second. They were as good as done. It’s very possible Jaehwan is panicking. There’s no way that he could--

Two hands lay on his shoulders, effectively interrupting his thoughts. Jaehwan jumps on his seat and looks around to see Hongbin standing behind him, squeezing his shoulders.

"Come on," Jaehwan can almost feel the tension drain away, lifting from his shoulders, Hongbin's firm voice working like a spell on him. "Focus."

And focus he does.

Somehow, he manages to be one of the last five people standing in the field. Hongbin's hands are now gone from his shoulders, but that's okay because he knows Hongbin is there, another set of eyes that help him and guide him.

"There's someone ahead, they are hidden, but I saw them when you were moving near here," Hongbin's voice is quiet, and Jaehwan swears he can feel it right beside his cheek. Stay put. "Unless someone comes from behind, we're better waiting until they come near."

Jaehwan nods, and changes the weapon to a low ranged one, just like Hongbin taught him, and waits.

He can still feel Hongbin's breath right beside him. Jaehwan tries to relax, follow the rhythm, so he can focus on the game.

It works, somehow. Someone walks by without seeing him and is down before they can react, and somewhere else in the reduced part of the world they have available, someone else goes down too, the counter now showing three.

"Good, good," whispers Hongbin. Jaehwan is not sure he's even aware he's doing it.

Focus.

The game forces him to move, reducing the area available again. Jaehwan fears that his fingers are going to fuck up and he's going to die for the most ridiculous reason, especially when searching for cover he needs to walk a very narrow, very dangerous path.

"Breathe," he hears Hongbin say, and he didn't realize he had been doing it.

Somehow he's still alive. He knows there are still two players around, searching for him, and he feels like they are going to find him and shoot him from whatever place they are. He keeps turning around, at Hongbin's exasperation, but then he comes to a clear in the map, and the two remaining players are there, shooting each other. It takes him a second too long and a couple of Hongbin's excited slaps in his arm, to move but he goes back until his character is out of their sight. He checks his ammunition, Hongbin humming his approval when he chooses a mid range one with a decent amount.

It doesn't take long for one of them to die, and when the player count drops to two Jaehwan says his prayers, and gets out of his cover.

He can see when the other player sees him, turning to look at him and running, and Jaehwan does the same. Runs, and runs, hand shoots, his fingers smashing the keyboard buttons and suddenly the game ends and the loading screen comes up and Jaehwan can't remember if he had been shot. It must not be more than a handful of seconds but they feel like the longest seconds in the story of the universe.

He hears Hongbin cheer before he processes the results, the trophy image showing in the screen.

***

They celebrate the best way possible.

Finding a ramen stall at 4am is difficult and tiring, Jaehwan thinks, but being carried on Hongbin's back, both cheering on the empty street and filled with euphoria... doesn't seem that bad of a plan.

They eat and celebrate, taking their time getting back home, having so much time. Jaehwan feels stupid, and brave, and bold. Gets his arms around Hongbin's shoulders, joyous, as they both retell their favorites parts of the play.

The sun is peeking through the horizon when they reach Hongbin's house, later than they ever did. The light made Hongbin's face sharper, and not for the first time Jaehwan found himself wanting to follow the edges of his face, following the light. see if they were as sharper as they seemed. Would he cut himself if he did? He wondered sometimes.

He didn't reach out, as he had not reached out in the past. As Hongbin got close to hug him goodbye, for the first time Jaehwan felt like something was wrong.

Jaehwan tingled all the way home, and then some, after, under his sheets. The victory, he thought, as he turned around and slept with the feeling of Hongbin's arms around him.

***

The phone rings just as Jaehwan is putting on his shirt, and he smiles. He knows the only person that could be calling him right now, so he answers, not even bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Why are these shirts always so uncomfortable," Hongbin complains straight away. Jaehwan smiles, even as he stretches his arm, straightening up his sleeve.

"I know you probably haven't experienced it a lot since you're so very pretty, but you know how the saying goes. Beauty is pain, Hongbinnie." Jaehwan sets the phone on speaker just in time to hear Hongbin huff at him from the other end of the line.

"That doesn't help, you moron," he says and now Jaehwan can't help but laugh out loud, living to get a reaction out of Hongbin. 

"When are you coming? First guests are about to arrive, probably, and it's going to be tedious," he asks instead, walking away to his jewelry box to choose his rings for the evening.

"We're probably leaving in ten minutes or so, if I manage to tie this thing correctly," he mumbles, clearly struggling with something.

"Ohh, what are you wearing? A fancy tie? Trying to impress people with a difficult knot?" Jaehwan teases as he reaches for the vest of his own suit.

There's a victory sound from the other line, not quite a word. "I wish. A bowtie. Apparently they are perfect for this kind of party. As if the rest of the suit is not fancy enough."

Jaehwan is used to the suits now, but he remembers his opinion of them when he was made to attend these events years ago. Part of him agrees with Hongbin, his gaming clothes being way more comfortable, but he's also come to like the way the suits fit him, and the way he looks in them. And with enough time, he learned to knot his ties, and got used to the crispy shirts.

Hopefully Hongbin will too. From the couple of times he has seen him in formal wear, he's been absolutely gorgeous.

Not that Jaehwan thinks about it a lot.

Just. From time to time. He turns around, escaping from the thought, and he finds his reflection in the mirror, mildly flushed. Accusing.

"Hyung? Still there? Did your suit kill you?" Hongbin's voice brings him out of his thoughts, and somehow that flusters Jaehwan even more.

"Yes! I'm here, sorry," Jaehwan answers, turning away from the mirror and trying to forget what happened.

"Everything okay over there?"

"Yeah, yeah, just got too far away for a moment," Jaehwan lies, grateful that at least his voice doesn't betray him much.

"Okay then, I see you in a bit," Hongbin says before hanging up, not waiting for an answer. It's not until Jaehwan is reaching for his jacket that the entire situation seeps in.

 _See you in a bit_ , Hongbin had said. Hongbin, suited up and with a smartass comment on the tip of his mouth.

It's going to be a party to remember.

***

After getting something to drink, Jaehwan finds his mother adjusting some flowers near the entrance. The first guests have arrived not long ago, but Jaehwan knows her and knows that she will be worrying until the party is in full motion. He has heard the doorbell not long ago so more people will be joining the party soon, he thinks, and hopefully Hongbin will be joining them soon, too.

A tap on the shoulder and a voice whispers on his ear.

“Wow, I hope you didn’t hurt yourself much.”

Hongbin is there, all suited up, so different from the Hongbin he’s used to see, and yet so similar at the same time. It then dawns on him what Hongbin just said, remembering the conversation they just had and he's sure his ears are starting to get red.

Luckily for Jaehwan, even if he's starting to blush like a Christmas light, his mouth works on his own. Unfortunately for Jaehwan, that also means he doesn't have a filter whatsoever.

"Wow, who are you and what did you do with Lee Hongbin," he says in very much the same tone, getting close to him, stopping right in front of Hongbin. "He's about your height, same devastating smile…” 

Hongbin cracks at that. It's enough for Jaehwan. 

“Come on, handsome stranger, let's get you something to drink.”

***

It's been about an hour and Jaehwan is already on his third drink trip of the night, which, all things considered, is not as bad as it could be. He's on his way back to Hongbin, to the corner they have practically occupied all night, when he sees that someone has swept in and started a conversation.

The guy in question, Jaehwan knows, in an old art collector, not quite as close with his mother as other people in the party but frequent enough that Jaehwan knows that at this hour of the party no one would be wise enough to engage in conversation with him. 

Unless, of course, you're Hongbin and have no idea in the danger that implies. While nice and generally pleasant, he tends to forget what he just said, ending in an almost never-ending loop. 

Jaehwan stands there, debating what to do, both of their drinks in his hands, slightly enjoying Hongbin's poker face get more and more tense, but still perfectly polite to the man before him. He’s impressed, if he has to be honest. 

Somehow, when the guy is distracted describing one of the art pieces hung out to Hongbin, Hongbin finds Jaehwan in the middle of the crowd and the face he makes is something that no words could make justice. And Jaehwan laughs. Outloud. A couple of people turn around but all return to their conversations in a minute.

Hongbin, though, is back being trapped in the conversation, and Jaehwan decides it’s time to save him.

He approaches the guy, and like a gentleman, taps on his shoulder. 

“Excuse me,” Jaehwan said when the guy finally turned around after a couple of taps, “I think I heard someone searching for you near the kitchen. They were mentioning something about good news-”

He hadn’t even finished his sentence that the man was already turning around in the direction Jaehwan was pointing, leaving him and Hongbin alone, again. With a sigh, Hongbin reached to grab one of the drinks from Jaehwan’s hands.

“Thank you,” he said before taking a sip of his drink, “With all due respect, I thought he was never going to shut up and I was going to die here.”

“And that would have been a tragedy,” Jaehwan says, expecting the half shove that comes later, definitely laughing when he does. He sobers up a little when he catches his father’s eyes across the room. Hongbin notices too, and straightens his posture a little. 

The drink is still cold when Jaehwan takes a sip, even if it’s not entirely his taste. Hongbin stares at him. 

“I don’t know how you do it,” he says, and unlike other times he’s heard this, it doesn’t sound accusatory, or mean. People that were supposed to be peers, but never got close enough. Never tried to understand. Not like Hongbin. So Jaehwan answers him. 

“Takes practice. You learn to know which ones are going to be nice and pleasant and which ones you’re going to need some tricks to get out of.” 

“Looks like I’m going to need to learn a thing or two if I want to survive,” Hongbin says.

“It just takes practice,” Jaehwan comments, looking absently at the people around them. Unaware.

Hongbin gets closer, conspiratorial, lowering the tone of his voice to something close to a whisper. “Or you could teach me.” 

And isn’t that a good idea.

***

“Okay, now you try it,” Jaehwan decides, and Hongbin turns to him, startled.

“Try?” Hongbin’s voice sounds slightly strained and Jaehwan nods, amused at the reaction. He has no doubt Hongbin is going to be fantastic at this, but seeing him nervous about it it’s endearing. He almost doesn’t think about wanting to kiss him. “You think I’m ready?” 

“We won’t know until you try it,” he says, half a dare. That seems to work, somehow, because Hongbin does look more determined, but Jaehan also noticed for the first time how his hands are trembling in front of him Hongbin catches him looking, and puts them on his pockets, hiding them, but Jaehwan can’t unsee. 

He reaches forward, putting on his arm until his hand is out. It’s not until their palms are together, that he can feel the slight uncontrollable trembling between his own fingers that he notices he is _holding Hongbin’s hand_.

It only gets worse when the trembling _stops_. Luckily for him, Hongbin is focused on his own panic, and brings Jaehwan back to reality. 

“Okay,” mutters Hongbin. “Okay, okay. It’s really easy, right?” Jaehwan nods. It’s the first time he has seen Hongbin this nervous, he thinks, but he’s impressed by how determined he looks, despite everything. “And you’ll come by if I screw it up, right?”

“Absolutely,” he answers, reassuring, squeezing his hand to reassure him. Ground him. “I’ll be watching you all the time.”

***

Turns out that, even if nervous, Hongbin is a very convincing social butterfly. He goes from guest to guest like he’s being doing this all his life, staying enough time to be polite, but always telling them something that makes them turn away. Always with a smile.

He’s doing so good, Jaehwan decides to make it a little more difficult. 

Hongbin is talking to one of the people that Jaehwan is not familiar with for a couple of minutes, pointing the art pieces around him, and asking him questions about it, if Jaehwan had to guess. He waits until Hongbin looks at him for a second, and winks at him. Exaggeratedly.

It’s meant to be surprising. Cheesy. He hopes he makes him laugh, a little.

He does not expect for Hongbin to flush as he does. 

He can remember the feel of Hongbin’s hand against his own. It might not be anything. But the sheer possibility that it does… Jaehwan doesn’t know what to do with that.

***

He might not know what to do with that but apparently Hongbin takes it as a challenge. Taking it upon himself to find Jaehwan's eyes and, if he finds him talking with someone, do anything to create a reaction.

He starts with a wink, as a direct revenge. It works, because Jaehwan feels it in his gut, but his poker face has been through things worse than that. 

But Jaehwan is anything if not a child so when the guest he's entertaining looks away for a second Jaehwan sticks his tongue out, in retribution. _I know what you want to do and you are not going to make me_. 

As Jaehwan knows, though, Hongbin is very good at games. 

He's very careful the next time, when he sticks his tongue out. Jaehwan can't help but smile a little, which somehow encourages Hongbin to try harder. 

By all game rules in the story of ever it should be Jaehwan's turn. But game rules don't always apply in real life. 

So when Jaehwan is about to sip from his glass and his eyes stray to Hongbin, he really couldn't have expected him to point to the hand on his pocket, and when he had his attention there, pull out a finger heart. 

And Hongbin be damned, it works. Jaehwan splurts, glass still on his hand, and makes an undignified noise before starting to couch, trying to disguise the disaster as sudden cough. The woman he was talking to pats his back, worried. Hongbin looks way too pleased with himself when Jaehwan finally manages to sneak a look at him on his way to the garden. 

He would be annoyed if he weren’t so damn proud.

***

“That was awesome, dude,” he says as soon as Hongbin gets out too a little later, following him. His face changes immediately, grin going wide, and jogs to catch up with Jaehwan, who waits for him with his arms open.

"Really?" His tone is disbelieving when he talks, but he returns the hug nonetheless. 

"Yeah," Jaehwan insists when they separate, but keeps himself close. "Even though that heart... That was a low blow," he says, squinting at Hongbin, only half joking and Hongbin laughs, probably remembering the mess Jaehwan made of himself. 

He leans into Jaehwan in an attempt to hide the laugh away. Jaehwan’s hand goes to his hip. To stabilize him, he says to himself.

The laugh subdues and Hongbin takes half a step back. Jaehwan’s hand stays. "Well, you started it,” he says, and it should sound like an accusation, but to Jaehwan’s ears it sounds… fond.

"I guess I did,” he concedes, playful. They are close, too close, and Jaehwan doesn’t know what to make of it. His hand drops from Hongbin’s waist, and hides it in his pocket, not sure what to do with it anymore. “You were getting too good, I had to step it up."

“Too good, huh?”

Hongbin is still in Jaehwan’s space, and he’s too close, and Jaehwan forgets what they were even talking about. Hongbin is very close, and when he dares to look up, Hongbin’s eyes are already focusing on him. 

“Say, hyung,” Hongbin says, while being still very much in his space, very much in his garden, while there’s a party going not that many steps away from them. Jaehwan is not sure he’s not dreaming, but he’d say _anything_ to make things stay like that. Unfortunately, Hongbin goes on. “What is the possibility of meeting someone you truly love in your life?”

“Why do you ask?” Hongbin is not looking at him, now, his eyes focused somewhere between his tie and his jacket.

“Would you do anything you needed to secure that love?”

“If it’s worth it, yes.”

“Even if it meant risking one of the best things that you have found in life?” Hongbin’s voice is soft, barely audible between the sounds of the party and Jaehwan’s heart. 

Jaehwan is breathless when he answers, the ability to breath completely forgotten. 

“How good can this be, to be better than love?”

At this, Hongbin moves, not away, not closer, but to pull Jaehwan’s hand out of his pocket and lacing their fingers together.

If Jaehwan is dreaming, this is a cruel dream and he wishes he never has to wake up.

“It’s very _very_ good,” Hongbin says, and _finally_ Jaehwan understands.

Their lips touch and it’s the most real thing Jaehwan has ever felt.

**Author's Note:**

> Aesthetic heavily inspired by the naver post with the behind the scenes of both Jaehwan and Hongbin's dramas. Also the line _What is the possibility of meeting someone you truly love in your life?_ is a direct quote from Hongbin's drama _Witch's love_.
> 
> Everything else is my own, and for my dear friend, who likes kenbin, and helped very much create the image for this fic to happen.
> 
> Thank you, if you read until here ♥


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